Meet The "November Nine"!

Posted at 00:00 2008-07-20
After 11 strenuous and exhausting days of poker the starting field of 6844 was reduced down to a final nine who will come back on November 9th to contest for first prize of $9,119,517, a gold bracelet and the title of the World Champion of Poker for 2008.

Like many years previous the final table usually consists of players the poker community has little to no knowledge about. However with a delayed final table it allows for everyone to learn who will be the eventual World Champion; and hopefully this preview will be the first step in increasing your knowledge of the November 9.

Dennis Phillips – 26,295,000 chips (Seat 1)

53-year old Dennis Phillips qualified through a satellite in his home town of St. Louis, Missouri and it is definitely paying dividends as he heads into the final table as chip-leader by a little over 2 million. Being his second cash after a previous circuit result, Phillips will be hoping to retain the chip lead throughout the whole final table and become the 2008 World Champion.

Craig Marquis – 10,210,000 (Seat 2)

This is Craig Marquis’ fourth WSOP cash and he arrives at the final table bunched on the 10 million mark with three others but sits eighth in chips. Marquis is a student out of Arlington, Texas who bought directly into the Main Event and on paper, and in by his own accord, is the least experienced as he has accumulated only 18 months of poker before this WSOP.

Ylon Schwartz – 12,525,000 (Seat 3)

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Ylon Schwartz holds eleven previous WSOP cashes to his name and has accumulated live tournament winnings exceeding $258,000. With his biggest WSOP cash being to the tune of $28,187 for a 17th place finish in a No-Limit Holdem event in 2006, Schwartz will be looking to take advantage of his fifth-place chip position as he looks to win the first event of his career.

Scott Montgomery – 19,690,000 (Seat 4)

Sitting third in chips Scott Montgomery is one of the two Canadians on the final table along with Darus Suharto. Playing out of Ontario, Canada Montgomery considers himself to be a professional poker player, and his results seem to reinforce that. With three previous WSOP cashes totalling over $73,000 and a 5th place finish for $296,860 in the 2008 WPT L.A Poker Classic Championship Event, Montgomery is well on his way to establishing a very promising poker career.

During the main event Montgomery actually missed some of the tournament because he was held up on a final table from a tournament that he began during his day off; the result was a 4th place finish for $36,025 in the $3,000 No-Limit Holdem event at the Bellagio Cup IV.

Darus Suharto – 12,520,000 (Seat 5)

Darus Suharto knows what it’s like to cash in the Main Event following his 448th place in 2006. Being a fellow Canadian like Daniel Negreanu, it was no surprise that Suharto would qualify through Poker Stars via a $650 satellite. Being an accountant by day, and a number one passion for poker, this is surely to change as Suharto records the second recorded cash of his short career.

David Rheem – 10,230,000 (Seat 6)

David ‘Chino’ Rheem is the most well know player on the final table and at 28-years old has a wealth of experience under his belt. The Korean-born, Los Angeles-based Rheem has five previous WSOP cashes including two final tables. He ran second to Allen Cunningham in 2006 in the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event for$327,981 and then this year ran fifth in Event #4 - $5,000 Mixed Holdem for $93,624. With over $700,000 in lifetime earnings Rheem will be looking to move to seventh on the all time money list if he can outlast his other eight opponents.

Ivan Demidov – 24,400,000 (Seat 7)

The 27-year old from Moscow, Russia has a previous WSOP cash when he took 11th in Event #44 - $1,000 No-Limit Holdem w/Rebuys for $39,854. He bought in directly to the Main Event and it has definitely paid dividends for Demidov who states playing in this event is his biggest poker accomplishment to date.

Kelly Kim – 2,620,000 (Seat 8)

Kelly Kim comes to the final table as the shortest stack, but knows what it takes to turn things round as ‘KK’ plays full-time out of Whittier, California. Before turning professional Kim made his living as a business analyst, but after learning from friends over the past thirteen years has accumulated live tournament winnings of over $315,000.

Peter Eastgate – 18,375,000 (Seat 9)

22-year old Peter Eastgate is sitting fourth in chips and hails from Isser, Denmark. Apart from the current Main Event Eastgate has four previous cashes with his biggest payday being in the 2007 Paddy Power Irish Open where he pocketed $46,714 for his 9th place finish. Considering himself to be a professional player Eastgate plays mainly middle and high-stakes poker and is proud of his ability to consistently win at that level.

With these words from tournament director Jack Effel, “Players, you may know go on your 117-day break!”, it will be interesting to see what directions each player takes over the next 117 days as they prepare for the November 9th World Series of Poker Final Table.

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